Wednesday Delivery (11/29): Dungeness Crab, Squid, and/or Rock Crab

Wednesday Delivery (11/29):Dungeness Crab, Squid, and/or Rock Crab

Dungeness and more!

In addition to Dungeness we have fresh Market Squid from Monterey and Cooked Rock Crab Claws from Santa Cruz for our "Seasonal Selection!"

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We can't get enough of these Dungeness crabs! We're bringing them back this week for everyone who missed it last week!

We're expecting a fresh catch of them to come in late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning from one of our small boats out of Half Moon Bay. Our fishermen hand sort the crab and set aside the largest ones (2-3lbs+) for us! The crabs will then be iced on the dock and whisked off to our kitchen where they will be cooked, cleaned, cracked, and packed that morning to be delivered to homes across the Bay Area!

All of our orders will be delivered cooked, cracked, cleaned and halved. The reason for this is because crab is noticeably better tasting when it is cooked fresh out of the ocean water. Once they are exposed to oxygen for more than 8 hours there is a very noticeable difference in the texture. We are working on getting our own live tank with ocean water delivered daily from our partner abalone farm in Davenport, but until then these will be the freshest cooked crabs on the market!

Our partners at Seafood Watch consider Dungeness Crab caught in California in net pots a "Good Alternative", while the stocks are in good health there is concern about the large fishing pressure put on them each year. Additionally there is concern about whale ensnarement in the ropes of the pots - although this is rare. Our fishermen operate on small boats and participate in fishing gear recovery programs and undergo training to help mitigate these risks to other species.

Single Orders will include 1-1.25 Jumbo (2-3lbs when live) Dungeness Crabs - cooked, cleaned, and quartered.

Now that we have built a stronger relationship with our fishermen and women we are happy to announce that we will be offering a seasonal selection of seafood which will be offered consistently each Wednesday in addition to our rotating catch.

This month we have several squid boats going out multiple times a week as well as our rock crab boat in Santa Cruz going out twice a week. This allows us to always pick up our catch on a Monday or Tuesday to be delivered Wednesday, guaranteeing a fresh selection every week for our members!

Fresh Market Squid

Have you ever driven down Highway 1 at night and noticed a fleet of boats shining bright spotlights onto the ocean? This is part of our local squid fleet using their spotlights to attract squids into their nets! Our squid boats go out several times a week and land their catch in Monterey making them a consistent seasonal and sustainable selection that we are happy to offer every week to our customers while our boats are able to go out to sea.They are perfect for calamari or to spice up a delicious pasta dish! Squid will come whole so you will have the opportunity to learn a little squid anatomy and save the ink to use in your pasta or an inky Halloween-inspired dish that both kids and adults will love!

Our partners at Seafood Watch consider Market Squid caught with purse seine in California a "Good Alternative" as squid are an important part of the ocean food chain acting as both predator and prey for many different species and there is little assessment or regulations that limit the squid fishery at this time - but we hope there will be more soon!

Fresh Rock Crabs from Santa Cruz are a Seasonal Selection available to members each week! Captain Jason goes out twice a week to catch them and hand picks out the best and biggest of the bunch for us to cook up for our members early Wednesday morning. Rock crabs are a delicious and sustainable local alternative to the infamous Dungeness crab. Many restaurants like to use them as a substitute for Dungeness, but here at FreshCatch we like to think of them a little bit more like a Western cousin of the famous Florida Stone Crabs! They have big meaty claws and a rock-hard exteriors to protect their sweet centers. Most of their meat is in their claws and the arm attached to that claw so that is what we will be delivering with shares, the body meat is minimal making it perfect for stocks! There are only a couple boats catching these guys so you won't be finding them at your local grocery store!

Our partners at Seafood Watch consider Rock Crab caught in California in net pots a "Good Alternative" because the stocks are due for an assessment and there is concern for pots damaging seafloor. Jason avoids sensitive habitat zones and returns all small crabs back to the ocean making his catch more sustainable than others.